Sunday, March 13, 2016

Bisexual Man Convicted of Hate Murder by NY Jury

This week, Elliot Morales, 36, was found guilty by a Manhattan jury of murder as a hate crime for shooting Mark Carson, a 32-year-old homosexual, in New York City in 2013.

"Motivated by irrational rage, the defendant targeted and executed a defenseless young man based on his sexual orientation after taunting and insulting the victim and his companion."-- Cyrus R. Vance Jr., Manhattan District Attorney

"I think we all felt he [Morales, the bisexual defendant] had some serious screws loose."-- Unnamed juror (quoted by New York Times)

Morales admitted shooting Carson but said he acted in self-defense and couldn't be guilty of a hate crime because he is bisexual. His star witness was a transgender woman who testified that she was his ex-lover.

In Morales' closing argument last week, he wept and told jurors that he was "not a bigot of any type" and that charging him with a hate crime was "ridiculous."

Police said Carson and his roommate were passing in front of a pizza parlor shortly after midnight on May 18, 2013, when Morales called out to them, using slurs and saying the men looked like "gay wrestlers." The two confronted Morales, following him around a corner, before he pulled a revolver and shot Carson in the face at close range, authorities said.

Assistant District Attorney Shannon Lucey said in her closing argument that Morales had issues with his own sexuality and was jealous that Carson and his roommate were openly gay.

The jury of four men and eight women [it would appear] deliberated for two days after two weeks of emotional testimony in State Supreme Court, during which Mr. Morales represented himself and took the witness stand to declare he was not prejudiced toward gay people. Murder as a hate crime carries a minimum sentence of 20 years to life, five years more than a second-degree murder conviction.

A few minutes later on Avenue of the Americas, Mr. Morales encountered Mr. Carson and Mr. Robinson, two gay men from Brooklyn who were out on the town on a warm Friday night. As he passed them, Mr. Morales called the men “gay wrestlers,” Mr. Robinson testified. Mr. Carson spun on his heel and confronted Mr. Morales.

Spewing antigay insults, Mr. Morales dared Mr. Carson and Mr. [Danny] Robinson to come around the corner onto Eighth Street to settle their differences, Mr. Robinson testified. They followed him, thinking it was a bluff.

There, just after midnight on May 18, 2013, in the shadow of a closed bookstore, Mr. Morales shot Mr. Carson while Mr. Robinson was on the telephone with the police, witnesses said.